1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the control and tracking of linens in a hotel, hospital or other similar institution having individual rooms wherein linens must be changed after use. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computerized system for providing a complete accounting for all linen items, clean and soiled, currently in the institution, and all of the institution's linen items being processed by a laundry facility. Although the preferred embodiment of the invention is described herein as used in a hotel, it is to be understood that the system of the invention is useful for any institution having multiple units or rooms wherein linens are used and must be laundered and replaced.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
For purposes of supplying linens to individual rooms in a hotel, the rooms are typically grouped, either by floor, floor sections or plural floors. Each group of rooms is served by a respective linen closet, alcove, or the like, from which a room attendant obtains clean linens for making up the rooms. The attendant takes the necessary clean linen items from the closet to the room requiring change, removes the soiled linens, and makes up the room with the clean linens. The soiled linens are collected from the individual attendants and are sent to a laundry facility that may be located within or outside the hotel. Clean linens returned to the hotel from the laundry are taken to the linen closets as needed for make-up of the various rooms.
A significant problem faced by hotels results from the fact that hotel management does not have available an accurate accounting of all linen items at various stages of linen use, laundering and storage. For example, room attendants often find that the linen closet or alcove lacks sufficient linen items to permit make-up of rooms. Sometimes the items are available in a central storage location; at other times the items are not available. In either case, it is both time-consuming and wasteful of manpower to require unnecessary communication between the room attendant and the central location, to require searching for replacement items, and to require delivery of individual replacement items to the various floors of the hotel. In addition to the resulting cost disadvantages, this causes delays in completion of the room make up process and sometimes causes rooms to be made up with incomplete linens, usually to the annoyance of the guests. Of course, assurance that linen items are always available can be obtained by purchasing many more items than are actually needed. However, this is very costly and, therefore, not a desirable solution to the problem.
Another expense incurred by hotels is caused by the need to replace linen items that are lost or stolen. Theft is particularly troublesome since it can occur at the room level (by guests), the storage closet level (by attendants), central storage or sorting facilities (by other hotel personnel) and the laundry (by laundry personnel). Theft and loss of linen items and the absence of accurate linen accounting make it impossible to determine the location and quantity of each linen item at any instant of time.
A further significant expense for hotels results from the inefficient use of labor involved in delivering linen items to linen closets, taking physical inventory of linen items and making up the individual rooms.